Picture Perfect [RIKU]

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

A wave of nostalgia hit Sora dead-on like a tidal wave as he shuffled down the streets of downtown Radiant Gardens, taking in the scenery and reveling in the fall scents of pumpkin and apple coming from the local bakeries and coffee shops. While he’d consider himself an island boy through and through, there was something about this city that he absolutely couldn’t get enough of and he was certainly glad to be back after a long and drawn out summer at home.

That wasn’t to say that he hadn’t had fun on the islands, quite the contrary, he and his cousin had gone out nearly every day and his sun-kissed skin was proof of that. But the thought of Radiant Gardens had always been lurking in the back of his mind, or maybe it was the thought that all of the friends he had made his first semester of school would be making their way back to the city as soon as summer was over. Though there was one friend in particular that Sora seemed almost eager to see again, despite the fact that they both lived on the Islands he and Riku hadn’t hung out at all that summer and for some reason that had really disappointed the brunet. He figured that was most likely due to the fact that they didn’t start hanging out until near the end of last semester, and then they had texted all summer but Riku had been too busy to leave his house it seemed.

Regardless, Sora had been inexplicably thrilled when he got a text from the 3rd year inviting him to meet him at the park. Plus, it was a nice excuse to get off of campus for a little while and the walk from his dorm down to the city was so nice and relaxing, despite the autumn chill that hung in the air.

He was dressed casually in a pair of faded denim jeans, a plain white t-shirt underneath a black zip-up jacket, and an old pair of black converse that seemed to be nearing the end of their days from how faded and worn out they were. It was only the beginning of fall so it wasn’t cold enough for layered clothing and scarves yet, but it seemed like that sort of weather was well on its way judging from the crisp breeze that every once in a while came by to make him shiver.

It took him a little longer than he had anticipated to get to the park, if only for the fact that he kept stopping to looking through the storefront windows as he passed by them out of curiosity to see what new changes had been made since he was last there. He had always had a short attention span, anything shiny and new would catch his eye and distract him from what he needed to do, but in the end, for the most part, he’d always get right back on track….usually.

Sora made it to the park a few minutes later than he had promised Riku and felt slightly guilty about the fact. Bright eyes scanned over the surroundings, trying to find his friend.

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[Riku Ichihara]

A soft cough escaped past Riku's lips and he frowned at it. The past few days he'd had a cough that just wouldn't go away no matter what he did. With a sigh, he continued walking towards Amaryllis Park where he'd told Sora to meet him. At the thought of the young man a small smile curled Riku's lips slightly. He'd grown fond of the easily distracted young man during the end of last semester. He'd been surprised by how close they became in such a short amount of time but Sora just seemed to...fit into his circle. During the summer he'd hoped to be able to see more of the brunette but his parents had set up various tutoring sessions that he couldn't escape out of much to his chagrin. Even if he wasn't to be heir his parents still expected him to keep ontop of his studies even out of school. He'd often found himself thinking of the brunette and text him, amused at their easy banter and Sora's insistence to tease him with pictures of Destiny Island's beautiful clear water.

he huffed lightly as laughter escaped him at the thought. He'd get Sora back for that little fact as well, that had just been plain cruel of the smaller male. He looked up when he got into the park, a soft smile gracing his lips once more at the utter peacefulness of the place. He had dark blue jeans on and a black zipper up no sleeve shirt under his light sweeter. His silver-white locks were cut short no thanks to his mother's insistence that long hair was no longer in style...for him. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his short locks, it was so hard getting used to it after it being years of him having it so long. A small cough escaped his lips again and he let out an annoyed grunt, it was bothering his chest. He was slightly surprised when he caught a whiff of pain when he sat at a bench, for a moment thinking he's sat on wet pain before realizing it was him. He'd been painting at his apartment before he'd come out here and forgotten to switch his clothes that he now realized had slight impressions of paint. Sighing lightly he looked up from his clothing, wondering where the brunette was. it was already a few minutes after he said he'd be here.

A soft chuckle erupted from him, he'd gotten distracted...again no doubt. he let out a soft 'never fails' before getting up and wandering around, looking around for familiar brown locks before spotting said brunette. It seemed as though the boy was looking for him as well...in the wrong direction. Rolling his eyes and laughing lightly he approached him from behind before pulling a lock of his hair gently and saying, "You're late, Hiroaki. Why doesn't this surprise me?"

There was clear humor in his lilting voice as he smirked at the younger male, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at him. Had he grown a little? He didn't have to look down at Sora as much as he used to and he noticed already tan skin seemed to be even more sun-kissed while blue eyes seemed to glimmer.

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

The leaves on the trees around him were already starting to change colors, another indication that fall had definitely arrived here in Radiant Gardens. Closing his eyes, Sora took in all the smells and sounds that filled the air around him—the crisp autumn air, the scents of pumpkin and apple and cinnamon, and the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot. While summer was probably Sora’s favorite season he couldn’t deny that he was particularly fond of the fall and everything that came along with it. He was actually looking forward to wearing sweaters and drinking hot chocolate and eating fresh pumpkin pie, as silly as that sounded.

“You’re late, Hiroaki. Why doesn’t this surprise me?”

Startled by the sudden voice behind him, Sora turned to face his friend, hand held firmly over his heart, “What’re you trying to do, give me a heart attack? You should know better than to sneak up on people like that!” He laughed, though for some reason the racing of his heart didn’t slow down after the initial surprise was over and it continued to hammer against his ribcage.

Sora wasn't known for being a very punctual person, so Riku should have expected nothing less of him. Though he really had tried to make it on time, the brunette had even left a few minutes early in order to make it to the park on time...not that it had really made much of a difference.

His lips curved into an excited grin, it felt as if he hadn’t seen Riku in years as opposed to it only having been 2 months. Despite the fact that they had only started hanging out more and more towards the end of last semester Sora somehow felt connected to the older boy, while they had completely different personalities they just…meshed so well together. It was easy to get along with Riku and talk to him and that was something that the brunette really enjoyed about their friendship.

“So how was your summer? I’d tell you about mine but I think all those pictures I sent you pretty much summed up how much fun I had.” The corners of his lips twitched into a cheeky grin, while Riku had been hiding away in his house doing only God knows what, Sora had been down at the beach nearly every day with his cousin playing various beach sports and catching some rays. He had felt it was his duty to remind the older boy what he was missing out on by spamming his phone with pictures of the beach, him, and the various other locations Sora had visited each day. That’s what friends were for, right?

"What happened to your hair? I like it!"

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[Riku Ichihara]

A real laugh slipped past Riku's lips at Sora's reaction when he snuck up behind him, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips. It was far too much fun setting how emotional Sora was and sometimes how exaggerated. "Awe poor Sora can't take a little scare?"

For some reason Sora was one of the very few who brought out the more playful side of Riku. He was usually much more calm and collected but with Sora he liked teasing the younger male and being playful. It was just part of their friendship. They seemed to rub off on each other which Riku didn't mind at all. He chuckled lightly, not at all surprised that the brunette had ended up getting here late. Even during their time hanging out last semester the young man had an uncanny knack of getting easily distracted. It usually took much longer than they expected to get where they were going.

"Soraaaa." He whined playfully at the brunette's reminder of his teasing over the phone. It really had been unfair and just plain cruel. So it should have been no surprise when a mischievous glint shined in Riku's eyes before he pounced. Attempting to give Sora a noogie for his evil deed. "That hadn't even been cool, Sora. I was stuck at home learning while you got to go play in the sand. You better not have forgotten everything you'd been taught."

His voice was filled with amusement as chuckles slipped past his lips, exasperation only slightly choosing his words. This was Sora after all. At Sora's inquire about his hair, he self consciously ran a hand through it. A light pink dusted across his features before he turned motioning for Sora to follow add he cleared his throat. "Mom felt it was time i get a haircut. This was the outcome. It hasn't been this short since i was a kid."

He scrutinized Sora for a moment before saying teasingly, "I think you shrunk a bit more over the summer. I knew all that Sun couldn't be good for you. Lol at that your even becoming a natural blonde."

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

Not wanting to give Riku the satisfaction of a successful scare, Sora crossed his arms over his chest and turned his face away stubbornly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I wasn’t scared.” Though he knew that it was useless because the older teen had already had a nice laugh at his expense, but he was determined to pretend that it had never happened but it was hard to keep a serious face for long and soon Sora’s trademark goofy grin was shining through.

With Riku he didn’t feel like he was being kept around for a cheap laugh, which is how he often felt when he was with a lot of his friends from school, he actually felt like their friendship was real and sincere. Things with the older boy were just…easy. He had noticed a change in Riku as well, when they had first met their relationship was strictly that of tutor and student and the older boy had been pretty serious about everything he did but now he was definitely a lot more fun and playful. Sora wasn’t sure what the real reason for this change in the older boy was but he liked to think that it was partly because of his playful attitude and influence on Riku.

There had been no cruel intentions behind him sending Riku all of those photos, he supposed that part of him thought that if the older boy saw how beautiful the beach was and how much fun Sora was having that maybe he’d sneak away for a few hours to join him. Though, of course that hadn’t happened, and Sora had been quite disappointed despite the fact that he knew Riku really had no choice in the matter.

One minute Riku was standing in from of him, teasing the younger boy and the next he had his arm locked around Sora’s neck. It all happened so quickly that the brunette barely had time to let out a surprised squeak, “Gahh, c’mon knock it off Rikuuu!” Light laughter filtered through his cries for Riku to desist. Despite being such a scrawny kid, Sora was actually pretty strong from all those years of playing various sports—but the taller teen was just a tad stronger, and it definitely showed when the brunette found that he was unable to weasel his way out of Riku’s grasp.

“How could I possibly forget anything that you drilled into my head? After our sessions I was seeing textbooks in my sleep!” He groaned. While Riku was a lot of fun to hang out with he wasn’t so much when he was in ‘tutor’-mode, though to be completely fair Sora wasn’t the easiest person to teach.

The shorter boy tilted his head, “I think it looks really good though, you don’t like it..?” He took a few steps to catch up with Riku’s longer strides.

He faltered in his step, scrunching up his nose in frustration, “I did not! If anything I think I grew a little over the summer! You’re just jealous because you’re still as pale as ever and I’m a tan beach god!”

[Riku Ichihara]

Riku laughed as Sora denied having gotten scared by Riku's sudden appearance. Even going so far as to cross his and over his chest and turn his face away. It was a pretty funny but adorable sight if Riku thought about it. However, it wasn't long till Sora slipped and his trademark grin was in place again. Riku write one identical to it and laughed. Shaking his head as he said, "Sure you weren't, Hiroaki."

Riku laughed as Sora struggled to get out of his grip. He was only slightly surprised by the younger male's strength. However, years of swimming in Destiny Island water's, playing tennis and recently being goalkeeper had kept him fit.So he had that extra advantage of being slightly stronger than the smaller brunette. “Don't really feel like letting you go just yet. How about you say 'Uncle' and then i might be nice enough to release you."

The silver headed young man laughed , refusing to let go unless Sora admitted defeat. At Sora's words about their tutoring lesions he rolled his eyes in exasperation. “I only drilled it in because i had a stubborn student."

He still engendered all the times he'd rap his knuckles on the desk to get the brunettes attention when it began to wander away from his work out the times he threatened to take Sora's eyes open if he didn't stop doing off every time he explained something. Yes, Sora had deserved it...or at least a little of it. All that aside, he'd enjoyed reading him. Sora was always willing to learn even if it was at the threat of not being able to pay soccer. “Hey, if you ever need any help with anything or your want to talk I'm free. I know i don't live at the dorms any more but your always welcome at my place. You can call me and I'll go pick you up or something. I don't mind still tutoring you or whatever."

Sora continued the conversation about his hair as they walked. Riku shrugged his shoulders arty his question, glancing away. The haircut brought back memories, memories of a different time. This he didn't know if he wanted to remember or not. At Sora's words that he thought it looked good the memories were pushed away though. Riku grinned and tousled brown tresses as he spoke. “Thanks. It's not that i don't like it...It just takes some getting used to."

A snort of laughter escaped before Riku could turn his head away and cover his mouth. However, his shoulders shook with laughter he tried to hold back. He couldn't help but think that was the most vain thing he'd ever heard the brunette say and decided to tell him such. "Sora Hiroaki, i never thought you could be so vain. A God?"

He lost it at that point, laughter making its way past his lips and fingers. A silly grin was stretched across his face before a hard cough cut across the laughter making him wince as he felt it in his chest. He really hoped he wasn't getting sick, that would just suck. He was quiet for a moment as they walked, contemplating something before they got to a vending machine. He putting money and chose two hot chocolates before he said, "So my birthday is coming up...the big two, one. I was thinking about having a little get together..."

He took the first hot chocolate and handed it to Sora before taking the next one as he looked at him thoughtfully, “Do you want to come? You can bring someone if you want."

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

Sora scrunched up his nose and stuck his tongue out at Riku in a playful manner. He wouldn’t lie he really enjoyed this, just taking it easy and fooling around like this with the older boy. So what if he had an essay he needed to write for tomorrow?—he’d much rather be out here with the older boy, in fact he probably preferred to spend his free time with him, he felt as if he was at his very best when he was with Riku. Maybe it was because he felt as if he didn’t always have to say something silly or over exaggerate some ridiculous action, though admittedly those were a couple of the things that Sora was known for and often couldn’t control it, but he could be more real with the older boy, if that made sense.

“Arrrgg! Alright, alright!” Sora cried out in between laughs, “I give, I give!” He held more strength in his legs from playing sports, such as soccer, that required a lot of leg work his entire childhood and it was a little disheartening that he couldn’t best Riku in their impromptu wrestling match. Maybe he’d start doing some arm workouts in his spare time so that when Riku least expected it he’d pounce and beat him at his own game. His lips curved into a mischievous grin at the thought of an unsuspecting Riku crying out ‘uncle’ while Sora held him in a headlock! Well, as unlikely as that scenario really seemed it was a nice thought and was certainly enough to motivate the brunette into working out more often.

A loud laughed escaped through Sora’s parted lips, rubbing at the back of his neck in a sheepish manner, he replied with a lopsided grin,“Aw, I wasn’t that bad now was I?” He tended to have a very short attention span in general but especially when it came to academics. Sora had a hard time sitting still in class let alone a quiet library with just him and Riku, he excelled in all kinds of sports but in order to play these sports he needed passing grades in all of his classes which made his life a whole lot harder. Maybe he had an undiagnosed case of ADHD? That would probably explain his inability to sit still and his wandering mind, but he liked to think that he had improved as a student, at least a little bit, with Riku’s extra help.

“Aw, does that mean you like me?” He teased, jabbing the older boy in the side with his elbow, “Now that you’ve said it you can’t take it back! Expect some phone calls in the near future and say goodbye to your social life!” The brunette laughed, but deep down he really appreciated the offer despite him joking around about it. It was nice to know that Riku was there for him when it came to his grades, if only he had something he could have offered to him in exchange.

He liked making people laugh, it was one of his better qualities and Riku was definitely no exception especially since when they first met he had seemed like such a hard-ass to Sora, a no-nonsense type of guy…or at least that was how he had come off as.

The shorter boy struck a ridiculous pose, flexing his muscles. “Don’t even pretend that you’re not jealous of this.” He gestured to himself, before dissolving into another bout of laughter.

Bright eyes lit up at the invitation and he nodded his head almost eagerly, “Of course I’ll come! It’s not every day that your friend turns twenty-one! Now tell me what you want for your birthday, wait, no don’t tell me anything! Let it be a surprise!” His voice started off slow and normal but by the end it had picked up speed and sounded more like a bunch of words jumbled together rather than an actual statement. When Sora got excited about something you could definitely tell by the change in his voice and the slight bounce in his step.


He wrapped his fingers around the Styrofoam cup as Riku handed it to him, reveling in the warmth that it gave off. He didn’t realize before how cold his fingers were from being so exposed to the chilled air but the contrast between the warm cup and his fingers was definitely there. Sora brought the cup to his lips and took a sip, his eyes widened and he swallowed the burning liquid quickly before sticking his tongue out and fanning it off with his free hand, “Yeowch! Was this made with lava?” It would take days for those tastebuds to grow back after being scalded off, in the meantime it would leave his tongue feeling numb, as per usual whenever he forgot to blow on something hot before ingesting it.

[Riku Ichihara]

Riku snorted at Sora's words of question on 'not being that bad'and gave the younger boy a look. Honestly, most people would say the brunette had ADHD but Riku was sure Sora was perfectly fine. Just had to figure out how to keep his attention. Hell Riku himself had, had problems paying attention to anything or any one when he was younger. It was why he didn't jump straight to calling him an Attention Deficit. Plus it was kind of mean and Sora was the last person in the world he wanted to be mean to.

Riku rolled his eyes and gently shoved Sora's shoulder at his teasing words, a soft laugh escaping. “Oh shove it, Hiroaki."

All joking aside though it was his way of showing he cared. He wasn't used to showing people he cared and he definitely didn't say it. Honestly, Sora was one of the very few that made Riku hate that he grew up so emotionally stunted. At the brunettes next words about getting a call everyday however Riku snorted.Teasing good naturedly when he said, “This is you we're talking about. It's a given."

A full bark of laughter escaped Riku as Sora struck a pose and spoke. If Riku was being honest, the brunette was probably the only one to ever see him so open and carefree. He didn't even laugh this openly with Addie and she'd been his best friend for so long. It didn't feel strange though, just really natural and easy so he didn't feel weird about it. Those were his thoughts as they walked over to the vending machine and got them hot chocolate before explaining about his birthday.

He watched as the brunettes eyes lit up at the invitation before speaking excitedly but at the mention of presents Riku let out a long suffering groan. He gave Sora the evil eye as he threatened, “Sora Hiroaki get that idea out of your head. No presents or so help me God you'd rue the day."

Riku had never really wanted presents, even when he was younger. All he'd ever wanted was his parents to spend time with him. He guessed as he'd grown that had transferred over to his friends. He was quiet for a moment before he mumbled into his hot chocolate, “You being there is enough."

He blew softly into his hot chocolate and watched Sora closely. He started to drink when Sora let out an exclamation of pain. He nearly choked on his hot chocolate when he laughed. He rolled his eyes at the brunette as he said, “It's hot chocolate, Sora. You're supposed to blow on it before you drink it."

There was just a hint of amused exasperation in his voice as he smothered another cough. He sighed softly before he tilted his head curiously, something lighting up in his eyes, “This winter vacation...mom wants me to house sit our home on Destiny Island. You should come to make up for the summer.

He'd almost forgotten that this winter his family would be staying at their other home in Radiant Garden so his mother had asked him to house sit their home on Destiny Island. Maybe he'd even introduce Sora to his mom and brother before they leave if he decided to tag along.

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

And then Riku gave him the look, it was an expression that Sora was used to receiving from authority figures. When he was younger it used to motivate him to try harder to please them so instead of that look they’d praise him instead…but now he’d become desensitized to it so instead of making him want to be a better student he thought it just made Riku look funny. Though in all honesty Riku was the only person that he actually wanted to try harder for, they were friends now and the last thing the brunette wanted to do was let his friend down, especially after all of that time they had spent immersed in their textbooks.

A cheesy grin lit up his face at the older boy’s light shove and teasing words, “Don’t deny it! I’m your favorite, you can’t get enough of me.” He liked this, Sora joked around a lot but he didn’t feel this level of comfortableness with anyone else—well, save for his cousin Roxas, but that was sort of a given considering how close those two were—and he kind of liked it that way.

Growing up without a father and with a single mother who was forced to work more than one job to keep food on the table for her and her son, Sora had never really received very much attention. His family and his school counselor’s had all decided that this was the reason why the brunette had developed a ‘class-clown’ type attitude because he yearned for the attention that he had been starved of. Even now, though he was considerably better than he had been when he was younger, he was still considered the funny guy in class. Sora wasn’t too sure if that was the type of person he necessarily wanted to be anymore, he enjoyed the attention but he would definitely prefer to receive the type of attention that he got from Riku and wished more people had taken the time to get to know him like the older boy did. “Are you complaining?” He laughed, “Don’t try to tell me that you’d rather go to all of those frat parties in town than come to my aid! My academic standing is at stake here!” It really wasn’t, he was just pulling Riku’s leg with that one, though he probably wouldn’t be all that surprised if he did start running into some issues with his classes in the next few weeks when things started to pick up and get increasingly more difficult.

He shrunk back a little from the older boy’s outburst, not out of fear but more so out of surprise by the sudden change in tone, “But..who doesn’t love presents?” His brow furrowed and the corners of his lips pulled into a light frown as he tried to comprehend the potential reasoning behind it all—he just couldn’t grasp that someone could possibly not want a present for their birthday! It was absolutely absurd! Running his hands through his hair in a frustrated fashion he groaned, “How---I just don’t understand that! You don’t scare me, I think I’ll take my chances.” He stuck out his tongue tauntingly, deciding that if he wanted to get his friend something for his birthday then by golly he was going to get him something despite his threat!

Sora had to strain his ears to hear what Riku had mumbled and even so was still unable to pick up what had been said, though he figured that Riku was probably just thinking out loud.

“Don’ waugh at be!” He sputtered, his tongue still hanging out in his desperate attempt to cool it off, making his speech slurred and sounding as if he had a stuffed up nose. He didn’t even take into consideration that that could possibly give Riku even more to tease him about. After a moment or two of fanning off his tongue, he sucked it back in and glared half-heartedly, “Alright wise guy, I didn’t think it’d be that hot…” He pouted.

He perked up once more, “Yeah that sounds like a ton of fun! I’m usually home alone during breaks anyway, plus you owe me for not coming out with me and Roxas over the summer!” Sora was usually home alone during vacations due to his mother always working and Roxas lived in Twilight Town so he really didn’t get to see him very often, which left Sora alone to his own devices a majority of the time. And Sora being left alone for too long never lead to anything good…

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[Riku Ichihara]

Riku chuckled at Sora's cheesy grin and words. Rolling his eyes at the younger boy he shook his head. Sora was a natural tease but it was fun having someone who could playfully match his wit. Sure there were moments where Sora's comebacks were just plain silly and made no sense but he had fun nonetheless. He decided if Sora was going to play that card, so was he. "Not unless you admit I'm your favorite."

Sometimes if Riku really stopped and thought about it, it surprised him at how quick they warmed up to each other. Usually Riku wasn't the type to let his walls down so quickly. Living the life he had, had made it so he was very cautious around people. However, there was something about Sora that instantly...drew him in? He wasn't sure how to put it in words but Sora was definitely a magnet for good or bad was still to be debated. Riku sniffed mockingly arrogant when Sora asked if he was complaining, "Me? Complain? I do no such thing." A small smile played across his lips before a grin stretched across them, unable to keep serious for the moment.

Riku rolled his eyes at Sora's words, the boy was so dramatic at times but it was truly endearing. He didn't know what to do with him sometimes though. So for the moment he simply laughed because he knew it would most likely be somewhat true once they get into the semester. Riku still remembered the first impression he'd gotten of the brunette, a small brunette ball of sunshine with a seriously short attention span. He'd even remembered a lot of the rumors he'd heard about the boy but he'd given the boy a chance, not liking to act on gossip. It was days like this where he was glad he had gotten to know the younger boy. "Now we both know that's not true. You're perfectly capable of keeping your academics up. As for the frat parties..."

The silver-headed young man made a disgusted face. Unlike what was to be expected of his popularity level, Riku very rarely went out partying, especially not to frat parties. He'd go out clubbing with a small group of friends or go out drinking but he wasn't crazy about parties with massive amounts of people and a going deaf from too loud music. It just wasn't his style.

He pretended not to notice the brunette shrink away a little although he did feel a little bad about how it came out. He'd forgotten he'd never actually told Sora anything about...his life. A part of him cringed away from the idea but the other part wanted someone else other than Addie and Kousuke who'd known him for years to tell. More specifically, there was a part of him that wanted Sora to know but he didn't know if it was smart. He hated pity and he didn't want to see it in the brunette's eyes. At Sora's question, Riku winced and looked away from the brunette as pride swelled up. It was stupid but the part that cringed away from telling him was his pride and just like always it got in the way of him showing an ounce of real emotion. His face fell into a neutral expression as he stared past Sora, unable to look at him.

He softened slightly when he saw Sora's visible frustration at his words of not wanting presents. He opened his mouth to explain but the brunette beat him to speaking, stating that he was going to get him a present anyway. Riku snorted rudely but not meanly. "We'll see how well that goes over, Hiroaki."

Riku continued to laugh even after Sora demaned he not laugh...or at least it sounded like he was demanding him not to laugh. Riku couldn't be sure as he laughed all that much harder at the brunette's attempt at speaking with his tongue hanging out his mouth. At this point, tears were forming at the corner of his eyes at just how utterly ridiculous Sora looked holding his tongue out and fanning it. When he could finally breathe without gasping for air he countered Sora's words about not know it was going to be that hot, "Yes, that was quite obvious by your tongue hanging out your mouth." He snorted as another laugh rose up at the image that brought before he choked it back and covered his mouth.

"Excuse me! You could have just as easily visited me instead. Just cause i was home all summer didn't mean you couldn't come see me." He retorted somewhat indignantly but playfully at Sora's words. He through out his empty cup of hot chocolate as they continued to walk, he looked up through the changing leaves to the sky. "The house is pretty big so there's plenty of room. I think you'll like it." Riku muffled another cough with his hand before looking thoughtful again as he remembered his pet cat. He couldn't leave her alone in the apartment. "i hope you like cats...or i guess animals in general."

Riku almost forgot about the other animals they usually kept around their home. It wasn't like a zoo or anything but they had a good number of animals. A small smile curled his lips at the thought of how the brunette would react to some of them and he knew this would be an interesting semester.

[Sora Yosuke Hiroaki]

Sora scoffed playfully and waved off the older boy’s comment, “Psh, you wish you were my favorite.” He rocked back and forth on his heels, sticking his tongue out and scrunching up his nose, making him look like an immature little kid who’d just said something that he thought was extremely clever. But regardless of his facial expression, it still made him look young and adorable. That was one thing about him that he probably would never lose, even when he was well into his 30s, he would always have that boyish charm that people seemed to fall in love with.

“Well…” He thought out loud, his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth, “I’m sure you don’t say it out loud but deep down inside don’t you just hate having to spend your weekends cooped up inside tutoring someone? It doesn’t irritate you?” It was an honest question, Sora felt that if he was at the level of popularity that Riku was at then he’d probably prefer to have his weekends free too—maybe not to party, but to hang out with his friends definitely. It must get boring having to sit in an uncomfortable chair and explain things from a textbook to someone. Hell, it bored Sora to death and he was the one that just had to listen to what was being said, he couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to be the one that had to explain things and repeatedly go over certain concepts and ugh, what a bore.

Sora’s mind often would wander during their lessons, he couldn’t help it! And it certainly was nothing against Riku because he was actually a way better teacher than some of his professors, probably because he had more patience for the brunette and was willing to work with him at his own pace. Sora liked that a lot, but it still didn’t detract from the fact that these subjects were so boring. So what if ‘p implied q and r’ what the hell did that even mean and when would he ever use that in real life? He was pretty sure he didn’t need any of that rap in real life, especially if his plans involved being a famous soccer superstar.

He shrugged his shoulders and offered Riku a lopsided smile, “I s’pose so, but I don’t think I could or would have been able to do it without you.” Sora paused, running his fingers through his disarrayed mess of spikes before plastering on a giant grin, “So thanks a lot Riku!”

The boy was completely and utterly perplexed by this whole thing! One of his favorite times of the year was his birthday! Not necessarily because of the presents though, as a child growing up with a single working mother she could never afford to spoil him like she wanted, but he had always loved and appreciated everything she got him. Not to mention having the family come down and celebrate and the cake! Birthday parties were the absolute best so how could Riku stand there with a serious look on his face and blatantly tell him that he didn’t want anything from the brunette. That was part of the birthday celebration process, didn’t Riku know anything?!

Cautiously he took another sip of his hot chocolate and was relieved to find that it had cooled off substantially, making it possible for him to finish off the beverage and toss the empty Styrofoam cup away in the trash bin. He furrowed his brow and frowned, “Well don’t laugh at me! What if my tongue was seriously injured? What if I was unable to use it ever again? You’d feel bad for laughing!” If his tongue was broken or all of his tastebuds burned off beyond repair Sora would not have been a very happy camper. He loved food and if he was unable to taste it, well, he’d just die!

Sora was quiet for a moment before saying, “I s’pose you’re right…but you kept complaining about how busy you were and about how much work you had to do so I didn’t wanna bother you.” He tilted his head curiously, “Is that how it is every summer? Or was this just a one time thing?” Man if his parents made him sit at home all summer and do school work he’d go absolutely stir-crazy. Sora needed to be out and about, he was an active person and couldn’t survive with just sitting around all day staring at a bunch of printed words on a page.

Bright blue eyes lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning, “I love animals! What do you guys have besides cats? I’ve been wanting a dog forever but I was never really allowed to have any pets growing up.”

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Riku Ichihara]

Riku gave the brunette a considering looks as he thought about his question. He’d never really considered the fact that he gave his free time to people that he didn’t actually know but he didn’t mind. Sure it caused him to have less time for himself but he liked helping people. There was something fulfilling about seeing peoples face light up when they finally figure something out or when they understand something they couldn’t get before. Sora just added to his love of being a tutor since he’d gotten to meet him through doing the tutoring program. Shaking his head and grinning at Sora, he said pleasantly as he tousled gravity defying brown locks. “Nah, I don’t mind at all. I like helping when I can and I get to meet interesting people.” Smirking mischievously he said teasingly, “It’s just certain brunette’s with a seriously short attention span that makes me want to throw in the towel.”

He chuckled at Sora’s words about not thinking he’d have been able to do it without Riku. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and opened his mouth before Sora continued. A light blush dusted across his porcelain cheeks and he turned away, he’d never been very good at accepting thanks. It wasn’t like it was that big of a deal anyway…or at least it hadn’t been in the beginning. Huddling into his sweater a little as he avoided Sora’s eyes he replied, “Don’t thank me. You’re the one who did all the work. I just sat there and helped.” Riku really didn’t know how to respond, his ‘friends’ didn’t usually thank him for doing things for them, well except Addie but she was different.

Riku could practically feel the frustration rolling off the small brunette and for a moment he battled with the idea of letting Sora in to that part of his life. The less…pleasant side of his life and winced before he rubbed the back of his head. He didn’t have to tell him everything. He could just kind of hint and tell him in a roundabout way. He let out a soft aggravated sound, tugging at his short hair before he sighed dejectedly. Screw it, he’d wing it and see how it went from there. “I…have my reasons. It’s complicated I guess you could say.” He ran a hand through his hair, the short locks falling back into place with only a strand falling into his eyes. Another hard cough passed his lips and he softly cleared his throat not wanting to irritate it any more that it was already starting to be. “My…birthdays weren’t always the best…or easiest time for me. My family isn’t like everyone else’s.”

Riku shifted uncomfortably before feeling relieved at having the subject changed, rolling his eyes at Sora’s dramatics. He snorted rudely at the smaller males words about him having felt bad if something had actually happened to his tongue. He simply gave him a pointed look at his dramatics but didn’t deem his dramatics even worth answering as amusing as it would have been, a smile playing along his lips at how things always seemed to escalate with Sora when he felt something important almost happened. It was usually pretty funny when he got into one of these modes and this moment was not excluded from amusing moments with the young man.

Riku shrugged at Sora’s explanation for why he didn’t visit him during the summer and grinned. “You would have been a welcome distraction, kami-sama knows I needed it.” He stiffened slightly at Sora’s question, looking everywhere else but the brunette. He frowned, debating on what to do before once again running a hand through his hair. It had become a nervous habit he’d acquired over the years and it only seemed to be getting worse as the days went by. “It used to be worse…I got off easy this summer.” His answer was vague and he’d purposefully so, while he liked Sora he just didn’t know if he could trust him totally. He didn’t want pity and he didn’t want to be used.

He chuckled at Sora’s excitement, it really was contagious. He made a soft thoughtful look before he said, “Well Salem, she’s my cat lives with me at my apartment. Rufus, that’s our husky, lives at the house on Destiny Island with the rest of the animals. I’ll introduce you to them all when you come over.”